The forecast called for stormy skies and lots of rain, but the Hackery and classroom at NSS were full of excitement and possibility as Cohorts 18 and Evening 4 showcased their capstones. Thankfully tropical storm Cindy and the pursuing cold front did not collide and the few showers that remained did not deter Nashville employers from meeting 34 of Nashville’s newest junior software developers.

Cohort Evening 4 Graduates 21 Students

These 21 graduates spent two evenings a week plus Saturdays with us for a whole year all while working day jobs. They also met for study groups one additional evening a week. To say they are dedicated to learning would be an understatement! Here is what they learned during their 12 months:

• Front-end development using HTML/CSS, Javascript, jQuery, AngularJS, and lots of other tools, APIs, libraries, and frameworks
• Server-side development with C#/.NET, including test-driven development, SQL, and more

Visit their class website to find links to the students’ GitHub, Linkedin, and personal websites: nashss.com/evening4

Cohort 18 Graduates 24 Students

These 24 graduates started 2017 by pursuing a new career in software development. After spending 5 days a week for 6 months (and lots of time outside of class), they are ready for their first jobs as junior developers. Here is what they learned during their 6 months:

• Front-end development using HTML/CSS, Javascript, jQuery, AngularJS, and lots of other tools, APIs, libraries, and frameworks
• Server-side development with Python/Django in a full agile, mock-company environment

Visit their class website to find links to the students’ GitHub, Linkedin, and personal websites: nashss.com/cohort18

Capstone projects across both cohorts included a vinyl record collection management application that allows you to look up tracks and see which album they are on, an application that uses Nashville’s open data to populate current building permits on Google Maps, an application to learn music theory, and a daycare enrollment management tool to help manage currently enrolled children and a waitlist.

Throughout the day graduates had the chance to talk with our friend Clark Buckner about their experience at NSS and their capstones. You can listen to their interviews below.

After a busy day, both cohorts gathered one final time for some words of encouragement from founder John Wark and their instructors, Steve Brownlee and Nathan Gonzalez. Their journey as software developers is just beginning and we can’t wait to see where they go and the impact they make on the Nashville community.

See our photos from Demo Day in our photo gallery.